Who am I Keeping Away?

The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke each record the same incident that took place one day. When all three writers put the same thing in their text, you know it is important. It seems some parents thought it would be a grand idea to bring each of their children to Jesus to have Him lay His hands on them, praying for them and speak a blessing over them. They thought, “Wouldn’t it be so cool for our kids to have a personal connection with Jesus?”

The disciples were not nearly as excited about the idea. Jesus was a “high level figure” by now and didn’t have the time to spend with those who were less important in society. These were kids and would not do anything to advance, what they considered to be, the purposes of Christ. Mark records it this way;

Mark 10:13-16 One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them. But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him. 14 When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his disciples. He said to them, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. 15 I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” 16 Then he took the children in his arms and placed his hands on their heads and blessed them. NLT

As I was driving through North Carolina on 95 last night, I was reminded of this verse and the next thought the Holy Spirit placed in my mind was this. “Who am I trying to keep from Jesus?” “Who is it that I think isn’t important enough for Him to give His time to, or myself for that matter?” “Who have I, like the disciples, devalued thinking, their problem is their own making and they will need to work it out on their own?”

I find myself making the same mistake the disciples did, deeming someone more important than someone else. Interesting note here is that those whom the disciples thought were the lessor important people, Jesus sets the record straight and says, the very Kingdom of Heaven belongs to people like these. May you find value in everyone that you come in contact with this week and may you realize anew and afresh how important they are to Jesus and the Kingdom of God. Take time to connect with them, and more importantly, connect them with Jesus!